torsdag 12. mai 2011

Norway was elimninated in the quarterfinals of the World Championships today by Finland by a score of 4-1. It was the second time ever that we reached the quarters and we did it without our three best forwards Patrick Thoresen (sitting out to spend time with his family), Mats Zuccarello Aasen (injured) and Tore Vikingstad (decided that he's too old for the national team). One thing I've seen during the whole tournament is attacks on the tournament. It's been called the "NIT", "a loser's tournament" and a joke. I disagree strongly. This is why:

Let me start by agreeing that yes, the tournament happens at an unfortunate time. Most North American fans are watching the playoffs, many of the best players in the world are wrapped up in those same playoffs and many players are tired after long, gruelling seasons. So it's not a best-on-best tournament. That much is for sure. That said, it features much better American and Canadian players than it used to do 15 years ago. But I see why it is easy for North Americans to write it off and make no mistake, us Europeans KNOW that it's not a best-on-best tournament. Maybe playing it in September would be better, but for now it is what it is and believe me, it serves a great purpose in its current form.

For one thing, it's something to do for NHL players and others after their seasons end. But this is not a big reason. A bigger reason is that it is a great window for players to show their skills. In 2008 a good tournament lead to Jonas Holøs and Mats Frøshaug from Norway getting drafted into the NHL. Mats Zuccarello and Matthis Olimb's play there and in the Olympics definitely lead to them being signed to the NHL as free agents last summer. This happens every year. Players from Europe who never got drafted get a chance to show their skills for NHL scouts. And NHL clubs also get a good chance to look at draft picks who are still playing in Europe. So it's a big window for NHL recruitment. But more than that, it's a big window to show oneself for European scouts. For a player it might be the ticket to getting out of the Norwegian league and into the Swedish one. Or to be picked up by a different team. The World Championships are vital for European players as a chance to show off their skill and get to the next level, wether that is a different European league, the KHL or NHL. While this is important for the NHL, it is VITAL for European hockey.

Secondly and most importantly, the World Championships grow the game of hockey. While media and modern technology have bridged the gap of the Atlantic a lot so that many kids in Europe now grow up following the NHL and dreaming of playing there, the World Champs are a big deal in Europe. It's on TV in every country that plays and in countries like Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic etc it is followed religiously. In those, already established, hockey nations, the World Champs is something they NEED to win and something that keeps the interest in hockey up. Without it, I think both the interest in hockey and the recruitment to youth hockey would be weakened. But it is even more important for the non-traditional hockey nations. Believe me, the surprising success of Norway, Denmark, France and Germany has been noticed in those countries. In Norway hockey is small most of the year. We get some pieces here and there about the local league. Simple recaps of big games in the web papers and in some of papers and some small notices about the NHL. There is not much coverage on TV. Every World Championship game is on TV. And the papers follow up with huge headlines. The success this year (added to the attention for the Olympics last year) has made hockey reach an all time high in Norway. Games, recaps and even previews have been the top headlines in online papers the last two weeks. People are talking about it, people are watching, people are leaving work early to catch the games. I have honestly never seen hockey this popular in Norway and it warms my heart. Will it have a huge ripple effect? Maybe not, but it will makes some more people follow hockey, either in Norway or internationally, it will make TV and papers give hockey more attention and it sure as hell will get a lot more attention for the build up to next year's tournament. And I'd imagine that a lot of young kids see this on TV and think "I wanna play too".

In a perfect world, Norway would capitalize on this by getting a nice TV deal for the country's hockey league (the one now is weak), get other national team games on TV, get NHL on more accessible channels and build more ice rinks. All those are needed to fully capitalize. And most likely, none of those will happen too easily or too fast. But this helps us get the attention needed to get close to those things and even without them, I think I can safely say that hockey is bigger than it has ever been in Norway right now. And that is a thing of beauty. And I'd imagine it's the same for the other smaller nations having success.

So while it's easy for North Americans to laugh about this tournament, it serves a big purpose for European hockey and for the growth of hockey. Over here it's no laughing matter, it's a big deal and a thing of beauty. So instead of talking shit about the tournament, try to turn in to a few games. Maybe you'll see the next NHL star in the making! Maybe not. But at least you'll see some good hockey, some players you've never seen before and experience hockey on a world level. It's no Olympics and it's very flawed, but this tournament is still a very good thing.

torsdag 5. mai 2011

The Wings pissed away an excellent chance to get back into this series tonight. They had the lead, but decided to back down in the third and lay back. That cost them and the Sharks took them to overtime and won it. You can blame several things here. You can blame the refs for the chintzy calls of course, but you've gotta look at the Wings and see that they'd have won if only ONE of these following factors had been better:- The team only killed two out of four penalties. That is 50 % and completely unacceptable. - The team had the chance to win the game in overtime, but blew tons of chances by taking weak shots, some of them on a power play. - The team, even when they were pretty good in the two first periods, was nowhere near as consistently dominant as they can and should be. - The Wings laid back in the third and let the Sharks take the game to them. That's like asking them to equalize.

I'm gonna take a look at the big picture now with some thoughts/rants. Will come back to much of this after the season, but right now I need to say these things:- I believe in my team. I believe in my players. Yes, I think Ericsson, Salei and Hudler should go, but aside from them, I think the players on this team have potential to win the cup and be the best team in the league if this team plays to their abilites. I think a trade of someone like Flip to make the team get shaken up might be a good idea, but on paper, this team SHOULD be one of the, if not the best team in the NHL. Thus, I also think that they are better than the Sharks on paper and should beat the Sharks. I think this team is better than the Sharks from top to bottom, from goalie to forwards. If you disagree, then sue me. Does that mean that I think they've been better? No. The Sharks have been the better team for the first two games and were equally good as the Wings today. Which is why I am pissed. The Wings SHOULD play better than them, but they don't.

- Proof of this? The Wings have been nowhere close to their potential for either of the three games, but still lost every game by one goal, two of them in overtime. Is this an excuse? Am I making excuses? No. I am stating the fact that the Wings should win this, but they aren't and deservedly so, because they're not playing to their potential. I'm blaming the Wings players and coaches, not bad luck.

- The players need to be better. They do. Zetterberg was better today and with his injury and all, I'm satisfied with him. Mule can maybe also be excused because of the visor and his injury. But both of those have been too lazy and not as good as they should at times this season. Filppula has had yet another disappointing season where he's had the same issues and failed to break through. Bertuzzi suddenly fell asleep in the second round after a great first round. Hudler is still useless, so is Salei and E, so I'll skip them for now. Homer is suddenly not burying the chances he always buries. Stuart, Kronwall and Rafa have been okay, but have made too many mistakes. Abdelkader is a shadow of himself and has been detrimental to his team in this round. Where did Cleary suddenly go this round? I could go on and on, and Eaves, Draper, Helm, Datsyuk, Lidstrom and Howard are the only ones who hasn't at some point this year been disappointing. Why? Are they complacent? Don't they have the right focus? I think they care, but something is wrong? Do we need to blow up the group? No. They are too good and too right for the Wings for that, but I think a trade of someone secondary, like Filppula, to shake them up, would be good.

- A lot of the blame must fall on the coaches. Laying back in the third? Unacceptable. The system not working as well as it should and being figured out by other teams? Their job to adapt. PK and defense being bad for three years, since McCrimmon came in? McCrimmon's fault. Team not playing to their abilities, lacking focuse, seeming complacent and disinterested at times? That's gotta be Babcock. Babcock's job is to provide a system that works and make the players motivated and in the right state of mind to play their best. He has failed at this since December this year. He struggled with it even when the team was healthy at the start of the season last year too, though fatigue has to take some of the blame for the playoffs last year. I'm tentatively on the fire Babcock bandwagon. It feels like he has lost the room. The problem is, who do we hire instead that would fit? Not that many good puck possession coaches out there. So while I want him and this coaches gone and another team of coaches to take over the same core, I would be okay with him getting another year's chance, but then McCrimmon and maybe MacLean needs to go. BTW, not saying Babbles is a bad coach, it just seems like he's worn out his time with this team and isn't effective on them anymore.

- I am also tired of the coaches being so lenient on players not performing. I understand that they are pissed at Mo talking about retirement, but with Abs not performing, Mule struggling and Hudler sucking, he HAS to be a better option. And why sit Drapes for two games when the first of those went to hell? And why not play Kindl when golden boy E and Salei are struggling?

- I don't want a rebuild. I want a tweak. Wether it happens among the players or coaches, it has to happen if the Wings lose this series. But blowing up and excellent core like this would be dumb.

- And just to be clear: I say this because I love the team, I love the players, I love the Wings and I kinda even love Babcock. And I believe in the players' abilities to be the best. I expect them to live up to that and I get disappointed and angry when they fall short.

Looking forward:- Chances of pulling this off are small. Let's face that, but the Wings have gotten better for each game and if they continue getting better, they will win games, but they are running out of time to be better. Still, there is hope. If they can find the switch, they can do this. Not saying it's a good chance, but it's there and we have to have hope. Gotta take one game at a time. Let's focus on winning one game. If we do, we can focus on winning the next, but right now all we should care about is to win on Friday to avoid getting swept.

torsdag 28. april 2011

Time to take a look at the conference semi finals and preview the three matchups that don't include the Wings.

East: 5. Tampa Bay Lightning vs. 1. Washington Capitals

The offensive juggernaut Tampa Bay Lightning narrowly escaped the first round after being down 3-1 against the Pens. The Caps shut down an already anemic Rangers offense, scored the necessary goals and advanced pretty easily with a 4-1 series win.

- Martin St. Louis is really small. But he scored 8 points in 7 games, together with Downie and Gagne (7 points each), he'll be a big challenge for the new, improved Caps defense.- Steven Stamkos only had 2 goals and 2 assists in the first round. Did the air go out of him in early March?- Roloson had an amazing first round. Can he continue in the second? - Roloson was already in the NHL before either of these franchises existed. Or at least it feels like it. - Can the Caps shut down the Tampa offense?- Will Tampa finally learn that building your offense around an overpaid former star, a dwarf..sorry.. vertically challenged person and a kid who hasn't yet reached puberty is stupid?- The Caps offense isn't as high powered as last year, but Ovechkin still had 6 points in 5 games, Green had 5 and they got some timely secondary scoring. - How will Alex Semin spectacularly disappear this year?- Over/under on Mike Green errors directly resulting in Bolts goals: 6.- Can Michael Neuvirth really continue to be that good?- Let's be real here: In what way will the Caps embarass themselves and choke like a tiny pornstar deepthroating a big black cock, this year?- When all is said and done, the Caps are too good. Caps in 6.

East: 3. Boston Bruins vs. 2. Philadelphia Flyers

Both these teams had to use seven games to win, but advanced and meet in the second round for something that promises to be a brutal series.

- Will Claude Giroux and Danny Briere stay hot?- Can Mike Richards finally score a goal? Or at least try to keep his point-to-cheapshot ratio at 1 or better. - How many goalies will the Flyers use? 5? 10? Will we see Tommy Salo do a comeback to save the Flyers?- Can the Bruins without any big scorers (none above 1 point per game) score enough by committee to win this?- Will Jack Edwards finally get caught and returned to the mental asylum he has clearly escaped from?- Will Chara be dehydrated or will he just continue to be big, mean and vastly overrated?- How many cheapshots will this series have?- Who will be the king of disgusting plays in this series? Richards, Lucic or a dark horse?- Philly in 7. They have better scoring.

West: 5. Nashville Predators vs. 1. Vancouver Canucks

The Preds impressed in taking the Ducks down in 6 games. Vancouver nearly choked big time, giving away a 3-0 lead before winning in 7.

- Mike Fisher (6 points), Shea Weber, Jordin Tootoo and Joel Ward (5) leads a Predators offense that have few stars, but tons of players that can chip in. Can they get enough shots and traffic on Luongo to break him?- Can Pekka Rinne step up and shut down the Canucks offense?- How many Canucks will Weber concuss? How many feet (on either team) will he break with his slapshot?- David Legwand still has a weird last name. - Marty Erat is a bitch. - Are the Canucks tired? Have they overcome and gotten stronger? How much is needed to turn Luongo back into a tiny ball of angst, cuddled up in fetal position, crying for his mom and sucking his thumb?- Can Alex Burrows stand continue the job to bear the huge load of being responsible of both the Canucks scoring and douchebaggery?- Who will Rafi Torres cheapshot next?- How much whine will the Canucks serve up?- Can they grind down the well oiled Preds machine?- The Preds have no star power, but a deep team and their system is great. They are much better than the Hawks and will grind the Canucks down into pieces. Preds in 7.

fredag 15. april 2011

I've been reading some news and blogs and there are a nice little piece from a Phoenix paper that I wanna comment on. Or maybe rather... point at and laugh. Have a look at this slice of dignity and genius from AZ Central:

...So, a plea to all Red Wings fans living in the Valley:

If you must go to the games in Arizona, please wear white. We don't want outsiders thinking we can't sell out playoff games. After all we've been through - from bankruptcy hearings to relocation threats - the last thing we need is more national embarrassment.

A sea of red at Jobing.com Arena would do just that.

If you're a Detroit fan who otherwise cheers for the Coyotes, understand what this does to your second-favorite hockey team, and how deflating it must be to take the ice for a playoff game and hear:

"Let's go Red Wings!"

By the way, that chant broke out at a Valley restaurant Monday morning...

So... lemme get this straight... They expect Wings fans coming to the game to not wear their team's colours and not support their team, but just silently sit still and watch the game? Really? These fans pay for tickets, which help the Coyotes, and they also are fans of an organization that heavily FUNDS the Coyotes. And still, they're supposed to shut up? Because it's embarassing to Glendale and the Garys. Yeah, it kinda is, but if more Yotes fans bought tickets, if more Yotes fans had season tickets, which would give them priority on these tickets, there wouldn't be room for those Wings fans. And every fan in every building has every right to wear the colours of and support his team when they are playing, no matter what. So, the only thing I can do is look at this and laugh. It's pathetic. God, how I look forward to hockey disappearing from that city.

Anywho, over to a story that I love, love, love: Todd Motherfucking Bertuzzi. Todd has been better and better and more and more physical lately. Last night he changed thr whole feel of the game by taking on Rusty Klesla. Good thing they fell down, cause Todd looked like he was gonna beat the shit outta him. And the chant from the Joe was deafening! "TODD BER-TUZZI!". Such a great moment for Todd.

There are so many fucking morons around on Twitter talking shit about Todd. Saying he shouldn't be allowed to play anymore. Saying he's a disgrace to hockey. Was what he did very, very bad? Yes it was. And he knows it. He's been afraid to do anything physical for seven years because of it. And he was crushed by it. He apologized immediately and did his time. He changed his ways. And bear in mind that the injuries to Steve Moore (not at all an angel himself by the way) would in no way have been as big if there hadn't been ten Avs morons jumping on top of Bert and Moore. Not defending what he did, just saying. But Bert changed, Bert struggled. And then Bert came to Detroit for the second time. He found a home where he committed to the system, he is welcome here and he is a great teammate. On the ice he gets better and better. He gives everything for this team and he is part of it. It's moving to me. He has redeemed himself. He has found his home. There are many guys the Wings should win a cup for for different reasons, but winning it for Bert is the biggest one in my mind. Let's win this one for Bert! He deserves it. And if we do, well, we're not Colorado, so we won't do anything, but if we were Colorado we'd totally retire his jersey. But even though we won't, we still love Bert and we're happy to call him a Red Wing. When all is said and done, hopefully years from now, Bert isn't gonna be a Canuck, a Flame or a Duck. He's gonna be a Red Wing. Welcome home Todd, we're thankful to have you here.

onsdag 13. april 2011

I don't like Team Gary. I don't like that they are in Phoenix. I don't like that they exist. I don't like their fans. And I refuse to refer to them as the Coyotes. I will hereby call them the Garys or the name of some team they should have been. Now... time to preview the hell outta this biotch!

The WingsLots have been said. You've already read it everywhere and anywhere. If they play like they've done for much of the time since December, we're royally fucked. If they play like they did on Sunday, we'll win the cup. Let's hope the switch is permanently ON! The loss of Z stings. He probably won't be entirely healthy for the entire cup run. But if he can get in and at least give his best, he is an asset. Some more thoughts:

- Pavel looked DOMINANT in Chicago. Turning it on for the playoffs? God, I hope so. We might have some spectacular stuff coming up!- Mule has SUCKED lately. He's been terrible. A) He needs to learn to play defensively again and more importantly (this is where I'd place the "B)", but I'm too weird to bother) he needs to score like it's the goddamn playoffs, cause it is!- Look for Modano and his experience to be a nice help for Detroit in this series. - Can Jimmah step it up?- The kids will play a huge role for the Wings. They'll be excellent. Bank on it!- Some D would be kinda nice. And less turnovers.

The Winnipeg Jets goaltending- Ilya Bryzgalov's 36 wins, 2.48 GAA, .921 Save percentage (shouldn't that read 92.1 if we're dealing in percentages? Americans...) and 7 shutouts are impressive. He's a good goalie. He's the biggest threat to the Wings. But he hasn't been as good this year. And we all know he struggles with slapshots from Homer, which has been a frequent occurence (once) lately. So...

- The other goalies won't play, cause they suck, but I think they're named LaBarbera (Feminine proper noun form of a girls name?) and Clime. But they suck. Dick. Hard.

The Hamilton Tigers D- Adrian Aucoin is old. But he doesn't use wooden sticks anymore. He is also +18. Wait, what??? He never scores any points though. - Ed Jovanovski is an immoveable object. Except when he's out of position, which is always. - Derek Morris has the same +/- as Lidström and must rock. Right?- Keith Yandle... Good stats, but I haven't heard his name in the Norris conversation since... uh... a long time ago. He was good last year, but due to the silence about him I'll just go ahead and assume that he sucks now. - Roszival is kind of a feminine name. Just sayin'.

The Quebec Nordiques forwards- Shane Doan leads the team in points with 60 and in goals with 20. He is also looking to match his regular season 67 PIM during the first round. Gonna be fun to see him run around like a headless chicken trying to murder our players. Can anyone say overrated douche?- Ray Whitney is still not a player I'd ever trust in crunch time. - Radim Vrbata has too many consonants at the beginning of his last name. He also scored 19 goals.- Eric Belanger is on this team now? How many teeth will he pull out this year?- Lauri Korpikorpiskakakakoski. I just wanted to write that. - Lee Stempniak used to play of the Leafs. That should tell you everything you need to know. - I've always wondered if Vernon Fiddler plays the fiddle or just fiddles with something a lot? What is he fiddling with? His cock?- Mikkel Bødker is Danish, therefore I hate him. - Paul Bissonnette is a douchebag. He is not funny. Please stop retweeting his crap. - I thought Robert Lang was on this team, but just being his own hidden self. I was wrong.

The team Gary refsWe all know they're gonna be against us. They're gonna be incompetent. They're gonna be wrong. They're gonna call everything on us and let Doan run around. They'll let the Garys players stand on Jimmah, but penalize Homer and steal his goals if he looks at Bryzgalov the wrong way. That's okay, we can overcome that.

Dealing witht he Garys fansThey are douches. We know that. There are a few hardcores and I'd feel bad for them about the impending move if it wasn't for the way they act. Then there are the playoff bandwagoners. Look for them to be disrespectful, unknowledgeable and ranty.

Should you happen to go to the game in Phoenix and meet such a fan, here are some responses you can use when they whine about you taking over their arena:- Uh, if you guys had enough fans there wouldn't be place for us- We kinda really fund your team, so we have as much right to be here as you do. - Eleven cups, baby. Eleven. What? What a cup is? Hahahahahaha- Relax, let's be friends! Sit down and I'll explaint the icing rule for you!- *Throws octopus onto the ice*- So you're a hardcore, huh? So you're moving with the team to Winnipeg then?- *Start singing Oh Canada*

PredictionI assume that the Wings come to play. If not, we are toast. But they are gonna come to play. We have more talent, more experience and better fans. Thus, we take it in five.

tirsdag 12. april 2011

Oh, hi there! New look here as you can see, but it's still a work in progress when it comes to the background. Every inch of credit for the work done so far and the work to come regarding the layout goes to the very talented @drdougfresh of The Detroit Transplant. Tune in for the the finalized version of this site later today or tomorrow. Until then here is how I see the three Western Conference matchups that don't include the Wings ending up:

Chicago Blackhawks @ Vancouver CanucksThe Canucks won the President's trophy with 117 points. A decisive win. Enjoy how that feels and how much that means when you're bounced in the second round. This Vancover team has never proven themself as a legitimate playoff team and Luongo has never proven himself as a playoff goalie. The Hawks on the other hand got the 8th spot with 97 points, but shouldn't really even be in the playoffs at all. Damn Stars.

- Will the Canucks be driven crazy over Chelsea Dagger?- Who will pester Luongo now that Byfuglien is gone?- How futile and useless will Hossa be this year?- Will anyone be able to tell the Sedins apart?- Can the ghost of past playoff battles stop the Canucks?- The Canucks might not be awesome at the playoff thing, but they should be able to beat the God damn cocksucking Blackhawks. In five games.

Los Angeles Kings @ San Jose SharksThe Sharks took the second spot in the West with 105 points, the Kings took the seventh with 98. Weee! Somehow this Battle of California is often referred to as the first since 1970-something. Ehhh? Sharks vs Ducks in 09? Oh, for Sharks fans that is a repressed memory I guess.

- The Kings are without Kopitar and other scorers. Can they overcome this?- The Kings are young and talented, but are they too inexperienced?- How much more will Doughty's play deteriorate this year?- The Sharks shed their label as chokers last year by knocking out the Avs and Wings. Then they choked big time against Chicago. Ehhh?- Gotta say the Sharks. In four.

Nashville Predators @ Anaheim DucksThe Ducks placed fourth with 99 points, the same as the fifth placed Preds. Two of the dirtiest, gooniest teams in the league colliding here. Hard to predict this series, but the team getting out of it will be beat up.

- How many times will we get the pleasure of seeing someone we hate get beat up?...by someone we hate?- Can Shea Weber please shoot Corey "MVP" "Pavel's bitch" Perry in the leg or something? (I was gonna say face, but.. eh)- How much will everyone fawn over Teemu "dive harder bitch" Selänne? (Yeah, still bitter from his embellishment in game 7). - Do the Ducks have a goalie?- Barry Trotz is your Adams winner in my book. - Gotta go with violence and douchery as the winner here. And the Preds in seven.

mandag 11. april 2011

Playoff time. It's glorious. The best time in sports. Great matchups, battles, stories and I am so far aboard the legendary stress train that I don't even know what to do with myself. The Wings will meet the Coyotes and I am sure I'll write quite a bit about that over the course of the next couple of weeks, but there are also seven other matchups and I thought I'd take a look at all of them and see what I think. For today, we'll deal with the Eastern Conference.

New York Rangers @ Washington CapitalsThe Caps obviously won the East with 107 points, which is pretty damn impressive considering their cold streak in early December. The Rangers barely clawed their way in with 93. I remember this series from two years ago. It was tight and the Rangers were very good defensively, but eventually came up short due to not being able to score at all. This year they have actually scored more goals than the Caps, even though Gaborik has been unimpressive.

- The Rangers have Callahan out and no big names scoring too much. Can Lundquist save them?- The Caps' total loss of offense and better defense seems to be an attempt at getting cup ready. Have they taken courses from porn stars to rid themselves of their gag reflexes or will they choke again?- Norwegian hobbit magic?- The loss of Mike Green should strenghten the Caps a lot on defense, but I hear he might be back, which would be bad news. - NBC and NHL probably came in their pants when they got this matchup. Circle jerking ensued (I would assume). - Caps will win out in 6 (and then choke in the second round). The Rangers just aren't a good team.

Buffalo Sabres @ Philadelphia FlyersSecond seed Flyers ended the season struggling and with 106 points. The Sabres ended with a hot streak and 96 points. Both teams both score and let in quite a few goals which is surprising.

- The Flyers are stone fucking cold, the Sabres are red hot. So naturally the Sabres will choke?- Kaleta, Carcillo and Hartnell in the same series? Controversy will happen!- Pierre McGuire will spend 97% of the series lusting after Mike Richards. - Thomas Vanek is hot right now. Can he continue or will Pronger crush him?- The Flyers still have no goaltending. Problem?- Can Ryan Miller save the Sabres?- The Flyers win out in seven. They are too good and the Sabres aren't deep enough.

Montreal Canadiens @ Boston BruinsThe Bruins finished third with 103 points, while the Habs finished 6th with 96. Both teams hate each other. Both teams bore me. And there are huge expectations for a ton of fights. Hmmm...

- Will the teams fail to entertain or will they make this a mayhem of the series?- How many suspensions?- Zdeno Chara is big. Like... really, really big. - The Habs are small. Like... really, really small. - How many games before Carey Price breaks into pieces yet again?- Bruins will win out in five. The Habs are too weak and Price can't play in playoffs.

Tampa Bay Lightning @Pittsburgh PenguinsShittsburgh got 106 points, good for 4th. The Bolts got 103, which is 5th. The Penguins have their two biggest stars out. The Lightning have Marty and Stamkos.

- How weird will it be to see the Pens get no attention due to the lack of Crosby?- When will Crosby come back? x 1000000 from the media all playoffs. - Can Stamkos deliver in the playoffs?- Will Roloson shut down the Pens.- I hate the Pens- The Lightning will win out in 7. No Crosby.

I got tired of Fight Night. I really did. It was all too serious. I hated writing recap having to remember everything about every game. It was just a chore. So, I'll let it stay online, so you can go back and read it when you wanna, but this is my new home.

I honestly don't know what I'm gonna do here. I won't have any kind of regular schedule of posting this and that and whatever and NEED to do anything. I will just post whatever I feel like whenever I feel like it. And it will probably be more ranty and thoughts-based and less analytical and serious than the old one. I will primarily focus on the Wings, but if I feel like writing about something else, like the Tigers, Lions, Wolverines or Scotland's rugby squad, I will do so. You have been warned.

I would like to thank Tom, Amanda and Shawna for encouraging me to do this and for asking for posts.

If you wanna be blogrolled, then drop me a tweet, DM or a comment with the link and I'll get it done ASAP.

This is a new adventure and I have as little idea as you guys about what will happen here. But it will be fun. Happy reading!